Pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) revealed today it is pursing legal action against Hims & Hers Health Inc (NYSE:HIMS) for alleged patent infringement, after the telehealth giant introduced a weight-loss pill with the same active ingredient as its Wegovy drug -- priced at $149 -- at a much lower starting price of $49.
Hims & Hers Health stopped offering the medication on Saturday, following threats of legal action from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Novo Nordisk. The FDA also took aim at Novo, noting TV advertisements for its Wegovy pill made “false or misleading” claims about the drug's benefits.
NVO was last seen up 4.3% to trade at $49.69, extending gains after on Friday logging its biggest single-day percentage gain since August 2023. The shares are bouncing off a pullback to their lowest levels since November, but still carry a 42.4% year-over-year deficit.
At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), NVO's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 4.51 ranks higher than 96% of readings from the past year, meaning options traders have been much more bullish than usual.
HIMS is down 17.8% to trade at $18.93 at last glance, earlier gapping to a 52-week low of $16.35. The equity is on track for its seventh-straight loss and worst day since June, and has already amassed a steep 41.6% deficit so far in 2026.
Options traders are targeting HIMS, with 218,000 calls and 195,000 puts exchanged so far today which is four times the volume typically seen at this point. The most popular is the weekly 2/13 14-strike put, where new positions are currently being bought to open.
